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Perchance to Dream (COMPLETE)	By : Khaleesi-Of-Dragons Category: S through Z > Sweeney Todd (Movie Only) > Sweeney Todd (Movie Only) Views: 1304 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Sweeney Todd, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. Any and all songs used belong to their respective owners.

Chapter List
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Market day always meant one thing for Elizabeth: easy pickings from the rich folk's servants. "Out of the way, tramp," a large gentleman with a bushy mustache snarls, pushing his way past Elizabeth with a sneer. I'm not homeless, bastard. She followed him discreetly, a small knife hidden in her palm as she gains on him. In a simple moment of contact, she had his purse in one hand and the knife safely in the hidden pocket in her skirt.
"Apologies, good sir," she says, giving him a slight bow as she walks past him, the hand holding his purse behind her back and out of his sight. The man grumbles something under his breath and stomps past her, not seeing her as she grins and tosses the purse from hand to hand a couple of times before stuffing it into the pocket with her knife a three other purses. They would be eating well for months to come, and that's not counting what Pirelli makes by selling Elizabeth to the Judge and his honest work of shaving. Feeling satisfied that she's made more than enough for the afternoon, Elizabeth makes her way through the crowd to a small fruit stand, nicking an apple while the owner's back was turned before moving back towards the small stage she and Toby had put up the day before.
While the market was always crowded on market day, most of the people seemed to surround the stage, watching as Toby shouts about the greatness of Pirelli's "miracle elixir". In reality, it was just the bottles Pirelli and Toby filled as they traveled from city to city. She scrunches her nose when she catches a whiff of the old urine, swallowing back bile as Toby demonstrated how to use the elixir by pouring a bit on a bald man's head and having the man rub it into his scalp. Poor bugger doesn't know what that actually is, and if he did, Toby, Pirelli, and Elizabeth would all be dead before the evening. "It's guaranteed," Toby calls out, the wig of pale blonde hair thankfully staying in place on his head as he moves around," you'll have to thin it once a week if you use it properly!"
"Pardon me, ma'am what's that awful stench," the man beside Elizabeth inquires loudly, his voice carrying across the crowd and gaining looks.
"Are we standin' near an open trench," the woman on the other side of him asks next, just as loudly and obviously vying for people's attention. Elizabeth shoots the pair a harsh glare, recognizing the woman as the owner of a rather disgusting shop not too far from where they were. She vaguely remembers working there for a short time before being taken to the workhouse where Pirelli bought her. The woman's companion, however, was easily recognizable as the git that knocked her down the other night. He had a familiar face, as hard and pale as marble, and the white streak running through black hair on the right side was a dead giveaway.
"Must be standin' near an open trench!"
"Buy Pirelli's Miracle Elixir," Toby continues, though louder now. "Anything what's slick, sir, soon sprouts curls." To emphasize his words, he curls a bit of the pale blonde hair around his finger. "When it's nice and thick, you can have any girl you want! Want to buy a bottle, Misses?" He hands the bottle he's holding down to a woman near the front, and the lull is his speech is when the pair next to Elizabeth decide to start up again. By now they have their own bottle, the cork in the top gone and the smell alone making it hard to breathe without gagging.
"What is this?"
"What is this," the woman, Nell or something, Elizabeth isn't quite sure, echoes.
"Smells like piss."
"Smells like- ew!" She hands the bottle back to the man and then speaks to a total stranger as the man leans down to talk to Elizabeth at the same time. "Wouldn't lay a hand on it if I was you."
"This is piss with ink." He stoppers the bottle again, handing it on to the man on the other side of Nell, ignoring Elizabeth's look of hatred with a small smile.
"Let Pirelli's activate your roots, sir," Toby calls out again to regain the attention.
"Keep it off your boots, sir. Eats right through."
"Get Pirelli's, ladies seem to love it!"
"Flies do, too," Nell adds smugly, setting the crowd to talking. Elizabeth steps down hard on the man's foot, making him shuffle back a bit and send his own glare at her. "Easy there, lovely, no need to step on people just 'cause you don't like the truth they're tellin'." Elizabeth had opened her mouth to tell the woman just where they could shove their truth when the booming stage voice of Pirelli silences the crowd. Obviously he heard the negative mutters and shouting and decided to investigate. Toby hops off the stage quickly and Elizabeth pushes through the crowd to get to his side, wrapping a protective arm around the boy's thin shoulders.
"I am Adolfo Pirelli," the barber announces loudly to the crowd," I have shaved Kings and all manner of nobility!" His false accent is thick, and since most of the people here have never traveled outside of London, none but Elizabeth and Toby knew that the accent was as real as the love sailors promise whores. "And I would like-a to know-a who has da nerve-a to say my elixir is piss!" A moment of quiet blankets the crowd, everyone looking for the person shouting about schemes. Then, just as everyone had given up, a man's voice calls out and the crowd of people parts to allow him through.
"I did." The crowd erupts once more into quiet whispers and looks. "I'm Mister Sweeney Todd of Fleet Street." The man that spoke, the one with the white streak, approaches the stage without fear. He wore no smiles now and looked as serious as Elizabeth had ever seen a man. "I have opened a bottle of Pirelli's Elixir, and I say to you that is nothing more than an arrant fraud concocted from piss and ink." Pirelli tries to keep his anger from showing, knowing it would make more people want to buy into his scam if they thought he was nice. "Further more, Signor, I have serviced no Kings..." He pauses for a moment to turn and address the crowd. "Yet I wager I can shave a cheek with ten times more dexterity—" back to Pirelli with that slight smugness back in his expression "—than any street mountebank." He turns back to the crowd with another smile, bringing out two silver razors from somewhere beneath his overcoat. "You see these razors?" He turns to Pirelli again. "I lay them against five pound..." Pirelli bends to inspect them, recognition flickering in his dark eyes. "You are no match, sir. Accept my challenge or reveal yourself as a sham."
And that's the moment Elizabeth knew that she and Toby were in for a long night. If this man did what he says he can, then Pirelli's anger will be drained from him in the form of abusing the two people he owned. Elizabeth and Toby were used to being struck, they'd both suffered worse than that in the workhouse, but that didn't dull the pain. Elizabeth would try to take the brunt of the attack, but once she was unconscious, Toby would be left to Pirelli's mercy. "Get up there," she whispers to the boy, already knowing that Pirelli would accept if only for a chance to beat another man in front of so many people. "Keep your head low, sweetheart." Toby nods obediently, pushing towards the stage and waiting for Pirelli to motion him forward.
"You hear this foolish man," Pirelli asks the crowd with an arrogant smile. "Now, please, you will see how he will regret-a his-a folly!" Pirelli removes his cape, swirling above his head a few times to let the crowd admire the expensive silk before he drops it and bangs his walking stick twice against the stage. "To-by!" Elizabeth follows the boy up onto the stage to help him prepare, saying nothing and ignoring Todd's dark gaze when his eyes land on her. While Toby runs to take the seat cover, Pirelli's cape and top hat, and his own hat into the carriage behind the curtain, Elizabeth moves to stand next to the spot where another chair has been placed for Todd, knowing it would be unfair if he had no help. The new barber takes his things from Nell and heads up onto the stage, Elizabeth taking the things from him to set aside on a small table. He seemed reluctant at first until their fingers accidentally brushed, then he could get away from her fast enough.
"Will Beadle Bamford be the judge," he requests, his tone flat like it was the night he ran into Elizabeth, and holding a note of disgust. Lucky enough for Todd, the rat he requested didn't seem to notice and even put on a jovial smile for the crowd.
"Glad, as always, to oblige my friends and neighbors," Bamford announces, the crowd parting once more to let him through, though none looked impressed by his portly form and long greasy hair. Elizabeth hands Todd the white cloth to cover his man with, purposefully keeping her back turned to Bamford. Todd seems to notice this and take pity on her, trying to stay in front of her while he prepares the shaving cream so that Elizabeth and Bamford never make eye contact. "Ready?"
"Ready," Pirelli nods with a smile.
"Ready," Todd concurs, though his voice was nearly unheard by even Elizabeth. Bamford pulls a whistle on a chain out from under his shirt, holding it lightly in his right hand.
"The fastest, smoothest shave is the winner," Bamford says loud enough for even those in the back of the crowd to understand, drawing more people by the minute. Bamford's whistle lets out a shrill note to signal the beginning of the contest. Elizabeth takes hold of one end of Todd's strop, watching as he begins to sharpen the magnificent blade without even leaving a scratch on her fingers while every downward stroke Pirelli makes cuts deeper into the sensitive flesh of poor Toby's hands. Pirelli, wanting to end this quickly but still wanting to please the gathered people, goes through the motions of preparing everything faster than he should have while explaining just what he was doing.
"Now, Signorini, Signori, we mix-a da lather to shave-a the face," Pirelli says, demonstrating what he meant. Elizabeth keeps her eyes focused on the razor Todd was still so lovingly sharpening, watching as it shines under what little sunshine manages to sneak past the clouds overhead. "You are-a watching the man who has had-a the glory to shave-a da Pope! Mister Sweeney, whoever, I beg-a your pardon. You'll probably say it was only a Cardinal, nope! It was-a da Pope!" Elizabeth knows without looking that Toby has brought out the roll of parchment that Elizabeth had drawn the Pope's likeness on, the forged writing near the bottom of it obvious to any who have seen the Pope's handwriting. Todd gives her a nod to let go of the strop, and she does so, taking a step back to grab the cup of lather and the small shaving brush. Todd tries out the razor by cutting a few hairs on his arm before blowing the small hairs off, closing the razor, putting it away in the small holster at his side, and taking the cup from Elizabeth with another nod. The man in Todd's chair closes his eyes as Todd brushes the lather over the lower half of his face, gentle strokes to make the white mixture even across the stubble.
This is where Elizabeth grew confused after setting the cup of lather back down on the table, Todd was moving the razor around but did not yet cut. It was as though he was trying to plan out how he wanted to shave them man instead of just working in parts like Pirelli did. Then, faster than Elizabeth had ever seen before, the razor met the stubble and Todd had finished the shave before Pirelli was even halfway finished. It was an amazing feat, punctuated by his quiet," Done." And Elizabeth was left standing beside him, gazing down at the smooth-faced stranger in the chair in total shock.
"The winner is Todd," Bamford announces.
"Go and help the boy." Those words were just as quiet as his previous ones, urging Elizabeth to move out of Pirelli's way before she was struck. She does as he says quickly and sends a look of thanks his way, moving to help the boy clean up the mess Pirelli left behind. Elizabeth watches over her shoulder as Pirelli takes his dark pink purse out and hands Todd the money he earned, suddenly feeling as though she'd swallowed a rock and it had settled poorly in her stomach. Something bad was going to happen, she didn't know when, but it would be soon.
"Come, boy," Pirelli commands softly, then," Come!" He backhands Toby sharply, kicking him hard enough that he fell through the curtain and into the carriage behind it, following soon after him and leaving Elizabeth to finish cleaning by herself. With her head lowered, she gets down on her knees and begins to clean the fallen lather up with her stained handkerchief.
"He do that often, love," the woman from earlier asks, coming to stand next to the stage as all the others break away.
"It's not my place to talk bad about him, miss," Elizabeth returns, not lifting her head from her work. "He keeps me fed and clothed and not many men would do that for an orphan."
"What if you weren't an orphan?" Elizabeth pauses, the motherly tone the woman used bringing back faint memories of a kind woman with yellow hair. They were gone as quickly as they came, but they left a deep aching in Elizabeth's chest that she got sometimes after one of her dreams. "Do you remember having family?"
"No, miss, most of my old memories was taken from me after a bad beatin' in the workhouse."
"Why don't you and the lad come and stay with me? I can promise a full belly every night and you won't be beaten anymore." Elizabeth hesitates, seriously thinking over the offer for a moment before shaking her head. Everything that sounded too good to be true usually was and she could be walking into a situation worse than what she was in now.
"No, miss, Pirelli'd only hurt us worse for running away again."
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Perchance to Dream (COMPLETE)